Read Online Escape From the Badlands by Dana Mentink - Free Book Online Page A

It was an easy slope for the first ten yards, but just before the turn, the trail dropped off sharply. Betsy eased back until she was actually crouched behind her bicycle seat, her weight over the rear wheel. It was clear she was a good rider.
    He continued to watch, arms folded. A murmur went through the crowd as the bike suddenly wobbled and the rear wheel collapsed on itself. There was a collective gasp from the onlookers as Betsy went down. The last thing he saw was the bike tipping over the cliff side and Betsy hurtling through the air, her braid catching the light as she spun.
    His legs moved of their own accord as he ran down the trail, slipping on a patch of loose rock. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ackerman following and Kelly behind him. In a rush of loose earth, his heart beating rapidly, Shane made his way down.
    Sliding to a stop at the turn, he looked over the side. The battered bike was a few yards down, caught on a rock, one of the wheels still turning crookedly. He ran to it, searching behind the shrubs and rocks for any sign of her.
    “Where’s Betsy?” Ackerman panted as he scrambled down next to Shane.
    “She’s up here,” Kelly called from above.
    Ackerman made it back up to the trail first, and they both arrived breathless at the spot where Betsy lay, behind a screen of rock. Kelly knelt next to her, asking questions and running her fingers gently along Betsy’s neck, arms and legs.
    “Thank goodness she didn’t go over the side with the bike,” Ackerman panted.
    Betsy’s nose was bleeding, and her face was crusted with dirt. “Let go,” she snapped, trying to move out of Kelly’s grasp.
    “I need to check you over,” Kelly said soothingly.
    “I’m fine,” Betsy said, trying to rise. “Leave me alone.”
    Kelly held Betsy in place. “You will lie still here until we see how bad your injuries are. Don’t move until I tell you.”
    Something in Kelly’s tone must have convinced Betsy because she closed her eyes and lay still, answering Kelly’s questions in clipped syllables.
    Ackerman knelt next to her and tried to take her hand, but she pulled it away.
    Kelly shot him a look. “I need her to calm down now. Could you wait over there?”
    Ackerman held up his hands and backed away. Martin Chenko barreled down the path, a radio clutched in his hand. “How is she? What happened? It was just a trial.”
    Kelly stopped his rush of questions. “I don’t think anything is broken. I’m concerned about a head injury.” She pulled a section of gauze from her backpack and pressed it to Betsy’s wound. “We should immobilize her and get her to the hospital for a CT scan.”
    Betsy started to protest loudly.
    Relieved that Betsy appeared to be at least conscious, Shane went back to the edge and climbed down to the bike. He had only a moment before Gleeson joined him.
    “Bad way to start a race. Makes you wonder if it’s worth it.”
    Gleeson had not seen the wheel collapse in on itself. Shane started to look closely at the bike, but a swarm of racers interrupted his examination. Several offered to help carry the bike up to the top, while another group headed for Betsy to offer words of encouragement. Gwen was among them, her face unreadable.
    Shane stepped aside as Gleeson and the racers pulled the bike out. He made his way back to Kelly, his nerves prickling. He caught Kelly’s eye, and hers widened just a fraction.
    The bond between them must not be completely broken because he could see that she got his message loud and clear: something isn’t right.
    There was a flicker of alarm on her face, but it was nothing compared to the instincts roaring inside him.

SIX
    T earing her gaze away from Shane, Kelly eyed her patient. Betsy was sitting up now, against Kelly’s wishes.
    “I’m fine. I didn’t hit my head and I’m not going to the hospital. A hot shower is all I need.”
    “Betsy,” Chenko said. “Be a good girl now. Do what you’re told.”
    “I’ve taken worse